The Void that is Heartbreak
by Minako Mikoto
Summary: Reno's heart has been broken. And now he just wants to end it. CloudXReno; Mentions of Slight TifaXCloud Character Death


MM: Hey there! I'm back with another story! This one is angst. In my opinion much better than my crappy Crack. I absolutely suck at Crack. I wrote this listening to The Birthday Massacre, Sirenia, Emilie Autumn, and Lacuna Coil because they rock. And really great for Angst.

Warnings: Curse words, Angst, slight mentions of Shounen Ai and Death of a main character.

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy...seriously...why would I post here if I owned it?

Pairings: CloudXReno, Very very slight TifaXCloud

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**The Void That is Heartbreak**

By Minako Mikoto

Reno's breath was ragged, white puffs of air forming as he blew out. He continued to stumble down the alleys and debris of the ruins of Midgar. How he ended up here, he wasn't so sure anymore. His eyes stung, as he kept blinking back unshed tears.

He didn't know when everything stopped hurting. Everything was numb, so numb. Except for his internal agony. He didn't know if that would ever leave.

Really he should have realized he didn't have a chance with Him. They weren't even close friends, but he'd had that stupid hope that they could be together, and he'd get his fairytale ending he'd never had.

"S-stupid, so stupid." Reno brought up a bloodied hand and rubbed at his eyes, clearing away the tears clouding his vision, only to cloud it more with the blood. He cried out as he tripped over a tipped over trash can, landing on his hands and knees.

Reno turned over and sat down, leaning against the brick wall of the darkened alley. He was breathing hard again as he clutched his stomach. The blood was still leaking out of the wound, having not stopped in the last 5 minutes.

His life had been nothing but sadness and tragedy. He grew up in the Slums of Midgar. His mother was an alcoholic, and his father left them when he was a baby. Reno's mother never really cared about him, so he spent a majority of his time on the streets. When he turned 16 he went and became a Turk for ShinRa. Stupid. It only caused him more pain and anguish, but he'd stayed loyal, because without ShinRa, he'd probably be dead in a gutter, not that it didn't matter now.

When he was ordered to bomb the Sector 7 plate, he didn't sleep for months because of the nightmares. He may be a murderer, but he had remorse for all those lives he'd taken. Hell he'd murdered his own mother too. Every life taken by his hands, ripped another piece of his soul away from him.

"I was so Stupid." Reno glared up at the darkened sky, as drops of water started to rain down onto Midgar.

Flashes of a blonde man with a dark-haired woman flashed through his mind, causing a fresh wave of tears. Reno whimpered lightly and pushed himself slowly into a standing position. Slowly, the redheaded Turk stumbled down the alley, keeping a hand on the brick wall. The ground was getting wet with the rain, causing mud puddles. He tried his best not to slip in the muck as he continued to walk.

_You're a coward. You're running from a fight._

"Shut up."

_You knew this would happen, but you kept your hopes up anyways. You're a_ failure. _Just like your Mother said you were._

"Shut up!"

_You screwed up a mission because of him, and now look at you!_

"I said SHUT UP!" Reno slammed his fist against the brick wall as he screamed at the voices in his head. He glanced ahead as a glint caught his eye. The Turk stumbled forward to get a better look.

_Grab it. Do it. You know you want to. What's another failure on your long list, eh?_

Reno tried to ignore the voice as he crouched down next to the silver blade that was lying on the ground. He grabbed it and brought it to eye level, studying it. It was sharp, he noticed.

_No one will care if you're gone. It will be celebrated even. Another filthy Turk out of everyone's hair._

Reno clenched his eyes shut and slid down the wall, the knife still in his hand. Memories of the two of them together bombarded his mind.

"Cloud. Why? Why did I have to fall in love with you?" Reno stared at the blade as he pressed it against his wrist. He slid it across his pale flesh slowly, a red line following after, trickling onto the ground.

Memories of what happened recently filtered through his head. Memories of Rufus looking pissed off beyond belief as he realized Reno had screwed up his mission due to his stupid crush. Another picture of Rufus bringing out his gun and firing at Reno in a fit of rage.

After that he'd run off, knowing that Rude had been trailing him. He'd lost Rude after a while.

_You're a pussy, a failure. Just end your miserable life!_

Reno brought the knife back onto his wrist and ran it across harder than the first time. Pain engulfed his entire being, his vision fading faster than it had been before. He ran the blade across one last time before dropping it to the ground finally. The puddle of blood was growing faster now.

"_Reno, what are you doing here?" Cloud's lips quirked upwards at Reno's Cheshire grin and completely laid back posture._

"_What do I have to have a reason for, yo?" Reno leaned against the clean bar. Tifa, who was standing at the other end of the bar snorted in amusement._

"_This is you we're talking about Reno." Reno grinned at Cloud._

"_Okay, so maybe I do have a reason, yo." Cloud merely raised an eyebrow at Reno impatiently, when Reno pressed his lips to Cloud's quickly._

_Cloud's eyes widened, and he made to push Reno away, but Reno stepped away and broke it before he could. _

"_Reno I-. I think you need to get out." Reno's eyes hardened as he stiffened and walked out the door as his heart shattered in the process._

_Reno stared emotionlessly as he watched Tifa embrace Cloud passionately. He was so engrossed in what he was seeing, he let the target get away. He turned around and walked off in another direction, his insides cold and numb. He never saw that Cloud had pushed her away, frowning, and never heard the words. "I don't love you Tifa. Not like that." _

'_It shouldn't hurt this much.' Reno thought to himself. He found a dark alley and fell to the ground and curled up. He knew his love for Cloud was pointless, but that didn't stop the hurt._

_He didn't know how much time elapsed before his phone started ringing. He picked it up on the fourth ring._

"_Hello?" He flinched at how broken his voice sounded. An angry voice filtered through the earpiece._

"_Rufus wants to see you. He's livid. I can't believe you let the target get away!' Reno tried to mumble a weak apology, but was interrupted by Tseng's angry ranting. Taking a deep breath he shut the phone, hanging up on Tseng and pushed off the wall. It was time to go back to see what trouble he was in._

Reno blinked as he heard hurried footsteps and a familiar voice, but he couldn't recall who it belonged to. Everything was blurry. And cold. He barely noticed when pale hands gripped his shoulder and wrist.

"Cloud?" Reno's tried to focus on the yellow that bombarded him, but he couldn't.

"Reno, just stay away for me okay?" He wasn't sure, but Reno thought he'd heard a few curses. He was so tired now.

"S'tired, Clou'. M'sorry." Reno smiled a sad smile and slipped his eyes shut, taking his final breath.

"RENO!!"

Cloud cursed the tears in his eyes. He screwed everything up. Again. He hurried down the streets of the ruins of Midgar, trying to find a sign of Reno. He could hear the voices of his fellow AVALANCHE members and Rude off in the distance.

"Reno!" Cloud cursed again.

Rude had come to them, panting and scared. He'd asked if any of them had seen Reno. He'd launched into what had happened at the mission. He'd even mentioned that Reno had loved Cloud. Cloud had been the first one out the door, raring Fenrir to life and down the streets off to Midgar.

Cloud paused as he saw a thin trail of blood down in an alley. He ran down it, following it until he came up to the motionless body of the red-haired Turk. He ran over to Reno's body. He gasped as he saw the puddle of blood underneath Reno's wrist. He put his hands over the deep cut, trying to stop the bleeding. Then he saw the bullet wound in Reno's stomach. Movement from Reno caught his attention.

"Cloud?" Reno's tried to focus on the yellow that bombarded him, but he couldn't.

"Reno, just stay away for me okay?" He wasn't sure, but Reno thought he'd heard a few curses. He was so tired now.

"S'tired, Clou'. M'sorry." Reno smiled a sad smile and slipped his eyes shut, taking his final breath.

"RENO!!" Cloud brought a bloodied hand to Reno's face, trying to wake him up. He felt his pulse. There was none. He was too late. Rude's heavy footsteps got closer, until the large man knelt next to the blonde.

"Oh Reno."

"I was too late." He faintly heard everyone coming their way as he clutched Reno's body closer. "Too late." He shouldn't have told Reno to go. Now the love of his life was gone. Back in the lifestream.

Tifa frowned as she stared at Cloud's door. He hadn't come down for days. She was starting to get worried. She clutched the door handle and opened it.

"Cloud!" She gasped tears coming to her eyes as she stared at Cloud's bloodied and lifeless body.


End file.
